Headphone Amplifier??
Toolfan66
Posts: 17,176
in Headphones
What are you guys using, and or suggest? I am looking for one to connect to my PreAmp..
Comments
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Bottlehead Crack
+Speedball Kit
Easy kit to build even for someone like you that has no DIY skills.......
I think there are a number of us here that have the same amp so you may get a lot of the same response.Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!! -
If you like solid state, look into the Schiit Asgard 2. Sounds good to my ears.
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Larry,
Send assimilated (Danny a PM)...he's a head-fi hog
May even be able to go visit him and see what ya can test at his place since he's relatively near you.2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
Also I've liked the ifi headphone amps I've run in the past. Otherwise the Crack is really good.... or I've heard good things about the Torpedo tube amp thats a kit"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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Also I've liked the ifi headphone amps I've run in the past. Otherwise the Crack is really good.... or I've heard good things about the Torpedo tube amp thats a kit
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Also I've liked the ifi headphone amps I've run in the past. Otherwise the Crack is really good.... or I've heard good things about the Torpedo tube amp thats a kit"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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Crack is good. Crack is very good. Crack is fun. Crack should be what you chose.
I'm not trying to bias you in anyway at all (Crack Crack Crack). So think (Crack) carefully before making any (Crack) decisions.
Hope this helps and any (Crack) bias that you may infer from this post is completely (Crack) mis(Crack)leading and not in(Crack)tentional at all.Aaron
Enabler Extraordinaire -
echo in here today daaanaanaan
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In 1/2 seriousness...'acause I don't go serious.
What headphones are you planning on using? The Crack does high impedance only. The torpedo probably does both high and low impedance as it is a transformer based output. But I can't find any specs on it either.
CrackAaron
Enabler Extraordinaire -
I'm partial to my Schiit Valhalla - tubeyliscious.VA HT HK AVR20II, Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD, Polk Audio RC80i / Polk Audio CSi3, 60" Panasonic Plasma, Nordost / Signal Cable A2 / Wireworld / Pangea / Magic Power
VA 2 Channel Focal Electra 926 speakers, Pass Labs X150.5 Amp, Eastern Electric MiniMax Preamp (Tutay mods), Eastern Electric Minimax CDP (Scott Nixon mods), Music Hall mmf 5.1 Turntable, Parks Audio Budgie Phono Pre , Audioengine B1 streamer, MIT S3 IC's / MIT Shotgun S3 Speaker Cables / PS Audio power cables
Noggin Schiit Valhalla, Pangea, Phillips Fidelio X1, Polk UF8000
Polk SDA1c modded
Polk CRS+ 4.1TL modded (need veneer)
Polk SDA2BTL (fully modded)
A/L 1000VA Dreadnought Canare 4s11 SDA cable
SACD Marantz DV8300
Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD
Yamaha YP-D6
Soundcraftsmen PCR800
Audible Illusions L1 Preamp
Vincent MFA based Cocci Tube Preamp
Pho-700 Phono Pre
Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's -
In 1/2 seriousness...'acause I don't go serious.
What headphones are you planning on using? The Crack does high impedance only. The torpedo probably does both high and low impedance as it is a transformer based output. But I can't find any specs on it either.
This help any with the specs?"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
For Chinese made, the LittleDot amps are pretty solid.
I have this one with some GE JAN 5654W tubes in it that I use with my Austrian built AKGs and my Senns.
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-6JI-standard-Headphone/dp/B00A2QM5O6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1513193948&sr=8-3&keywords=LittleDot
"Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
EndersShadow wrote: »In 1/2 seriousness...'acause I don't go serious.
What headphones are you planning on using? The Crack does high impedance only. The torpedo probably does both high and low impedance as it is a transformer based output. But I can't find any specs on it either.
This help any with the specs?
yep - looks like you can hook anything up to it.
Got a budget for this thing? I'd go with the Bottlehead Mainline if you've got the coin but it don't come cheap!
Aaron
Enabler Extraordinaire -
I confused as to who makes what. Doesn't Schiit come from Crack?
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I confused as to who makes what. Doesn't Schiit come from Crack?
My Crack has Schiit.
Not the other way around. That would be a waste of perfectly good substance...Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!! -
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Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!! -
Thanks Guys, this gives me something to look, and think about..
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If you're feeling a notch more ambitious than the Bottlehead/kit route (and, mind you, there's nothing wrong with Bottlehead stuff at all) -- Pete Millett (who used to, and maybe still does, design/build headphone amps for a living) has made tonnes of interesting, clever and (based on my limited experience) good-sounding hifi DIY designs available to the great unwashed DIY community.
Now, in disclosure, I've built identically one of his designs (but I've built two of 'em), but I like it and I really appreciate the huge on-line resource of vacuum tube reference literature he's single-handedly* put on-line! He and Nelson Pass are DIY hifi's best buddies!
http://www.pmillett.com
(scroll down the page for his headphone amp designs)
http://www.tubebooks.org/
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* Well, it looks like he gets, or got, some assistance from his faithful feline...
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I used mine last night for several hours. During the first 30 minutes, it sounded so bad. Jumbled soundstage, strangely accented midrange, anemic bass, etc.
After it fully got up to temp like after a good hour, it sounded much better. Sound smoothed out and detail improved dramatically. At the 3 hour mark it was sounding so good that I didn't want to turn it off, but it was midnight and I had to get to sleep for work in the morning.
But yeah, it does run super hot! If you try to put your fingers on the lower right hand side where the mosfets are mounted against the enclosure, you can't leave your fingers there for long! I put some larger feet on mine that seems to help with the heat dissipation.Got one of those too, love it! Although...mine is in a fancy enclosure to help dissipate the heat the darn thing makes!
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What does the enclosure you made for it look like?
It is pure class A and Schiit makes sure to tell one in the product pages that this thing will run hot...they don't hide it.
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I think he just is kidding and has his in the factory enclosure...
Or maybe he's not kidding and its more like this
Or this
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
It's probably sitting on top of butter tarts while an aftermarket water cooler pumps milk from a bag.
Canadians are weird...
Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!! -
It's probably sitting on top of butter tarts while an aftermarket water cooler pumps milk from a bag.
Canadians are weird...
Or he sits it outside on the snow and runs a REALLY long headphone cable through his wall to listen"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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I have ordered a pair of the Audeze LCD-3. Will I be able to use these with my McIntosh C2300 preamp or my Rega Brio integrated map - both have jacks built-in? Will a separate headphone amp be required?[
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This works but isn't quite done yet. EL84's with headphone and speakers:
Aaron
Enabler Extraordinaire -
This works but isn't quite done yet. EL84's with headphone and speakers:
What design is that? I've been debating get a tubed diy amp of some sort...."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
It looks finished to me.
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EndersShadow wrote: »This works but isn't quite done yet. EL84's with headphone and speakers:
What design is that? I've been debating get a tubed diy amp of some sort....
DavidYee Audio - this board and another was gifted to me by one of the Chicago facebook group guys. I've got another... it's already populated. I also have another pretty blue transformer and a 2nd 6.3v filament transformer. All you need to do is wire it up and put output transformers against it. The problem is there is basically no support for DavidYee products. You get it to work or toss it.
Find Pete Millet's website - Edcor sells a "kit" of transformers for the Mighty Midget.
http://www.edcorusa.com/pm-102Aaron
Enabler Extraordinaire